The Catholic News

Our young people are called to carry joy into our homes, says Nicholas Gabriel Lim.

Earlier this year, we marked the 27th World Youth Day (WYD) since the inaugural celebration in 1986. Once every three years since that first celebration, youths from all over the world continue to gather for a week of prayer, catechesis, and a celebration of the Eucharist with the Pope. The last International gathering was held in Madrid, Spain last year, while the upcoming one in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, will take place in 2013. Every other year, though, the Vatican has marked out a day to celebrate our youth, even if it’s not held as an International gathering. Having participated in the 2008 International gathering in Sydney, Australia, I can attest to the awe-inspiring testimonies that many other WYD participants have shared.  

Vatican unveils Year of Faith plans

Document based on responses to questionnaire

VATICAN CITY – In an effort to respond to a “clear and pressing” need for priests, the Vatican released a set of guidelines to help bishops and Church communities promote, recruit and educate a new generation of men for the priesthood.

The Church needs “suitable” candidates and must avoid men who “show signs of being profoundly fragile personalities”, while helping others heal from any possible “individual deviations” from their vocations, the document said.

Based on responses to a questionnaire sent to bishops’ conferences and directors of national vocations offices around the world in 2008, the Congregation for Catholic Education sought to address a widespread demand for pastoral guidelines for fostering vocations “based on clear and well-founded theology of vocation and of the identity of the ministerial priesthood”.

Titled Pastoral Guidelines for Fostering Vocations to Priestly Ministry, the 29-page document was released on June 25. It also marked the 70th anniversary of the inauguration of the congregation’s Pontifical Work for Priestly Vocations.

POPE BENEDICT XVI’s Apostolic Exhortation after the XII Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops on the Word of God (Oct 5-26, 2008) was published on Sept 30, 2010.

Entitled Verbum Domini [VD] (The Word of the Lord), it gives a theology of the Word of God and goes into the relevance and importance of the Word for the Church’s life and ministry and for her mission to the world as well.

At its meeting in February 2011, the Regional Biblical Commission (RBC) decided to dedicate the annual Bible Sunday message to this document. Because of its richness, the RBC would spread its coverage of the document over the next few years.

So for its Bible Sunday Message last year the RBC highlighted the primacy of God’s word to man in different forms culminating in Jesus Christ, the Word of God. That Word invites all men and women to covenant with God.

This year’s message continues the reflection by highlighting the response of men and women to God’s call to covenantal life with Him.

The Covenant with God

“In this vision every man and woman appears as someone to whom the Word speaks, challenges, and calls to enter this dialogue of love through a free response. Each of us is thus enabled by God to hear and respond to His Word.

Anthony Gabriel from Singapore’s Legion of Mary shares his group’s experience of the event held in Dublin

‘I went to Dublin with 13 members of the Legion of Mary Singapore Senatus and seven non-members to attend the 50th International Eucharistic Congress and to visit the Legion of Mary headquarters.

We also took the opportunity to have a pilgrimage in Ireland: to the Marian Shrine of Knock, some places associated with St Patrick, and other religious places with a Dublin priest, Fr Michael Kane.

The congress was held in Dublin from June 10-17. We attended the congress from June 14-16 at the Royal Dublin Society and the closing Statio Orbis Mass on June 17 at Croke Park Stadium.

Each day was centred around the Mass celebrated by a cardinal or bishop and had a theme based on the main theme, The Eucharist: Communion with Christ and with One Another.

Archbishop Nicholas Chia has sent a document to all priests on the topic of dressing in church.

“Rather than proposing a ‘dress code’,” said the archbishop in an accompanying letter, the document “aims at giving a description of the spirit conducive to worship, providing a welcoming note, and avoiding any prohibitive language”.

In his letter, dated June 25, he urged priests to remove “without delay” all “prohibitive posters … since they give the impression of the Church being unwelcoming”.

The document, approved by the Senate of Priests in April, is as follows:

Dressing for Church

Lately there has been much discussion about what is appropriate dressing for Mass.

This statement is not comprehensive and aims purely to put the right spirit into the sometimes acrimonious discussions that have unfortunately infected what should be a level headed discourse.

The Catholic Church is a universal Church embracing all peoples, cultures and nations. The Catholic community is an inclusive and welcoming community, loving God and neighbour, and striving to offer God fitting worship at what is our most precious gift from Our Lord, the Sunday Eucharist.

Recent episodes make a timely reminder for us to reexamine our approach to how to dress appropriately for an event that is central to our Christian life; the Sunday Eucharist.

More than 100 children from the Malayalam Catholic community participated in a one-day Bible-based programme for kids aged three to those in their teens.

The Children’s Ministry of the Malayalam Charismatic Group (MCG), Singapore, held the BibleFest 2012 at Assumption English School on June 23.

Fr Dominic Savio, MCG spiritual director and chaplain to the Malayalam Catholic community, launched the programme with the lighting of a traditional oil lamp, symbolising Christ’s presence.

According to organisers, the event – which included psalm recitals, as well as story-telling, speeches and a quiz and debate on biblical themes – was to help the children use their talents to glorify God.

Infant Jesus Sr Rosario Egan passed away on June 26 at the age of 95.

On first meeting her, few people fail to recognise the inner strength she radiated. The source of this strength came from a deep faith life sustained by prayer over the years.

People who crossed her path, particularly those carrying heavy burdens, found in her a person who understood life’s hardships. Thanks to her practical intervention, remarkable resourcefulness and capacity to give hope, many were helped to move forward in life.